1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a closable and latchable storage package for a recording medium and, more particularly, to a package comprising a paperboard cover assembled to multiple plastic disc holders.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of planar discs are in use at the present time to record and store information which is to be retrieved by various means, such as by optical or magnetic means. Typical of such discs are compact discs in which information is digitally recorded by use of a laser beam and then read optically by a laser beam. Such discs are used to record audio information, such as musical renditions, video information such as visual images and digital information for use as read only and other memories for use in various applications, such as computer applications. In most instances, at the present time, such discs are sold with information already recorded thereon. In other applications, such discs are sold in blank form and are used by the customer to record information thereon. In the latter case, for example, optical discs are sold for use as computer storage media and are used in hard disc storage systems. As used herein, the term compact disc or CD is intended to encompass all such discs, whatever their size, for all known or proposed uses.
Compact discs containing laser recorded information are typically packaged in injection molded plastic enclosures designed to hold one or more CDs for protecting the discs during storage and shipment. Enclosures commonly used at the present time, such as the well known “jewel box,” comprise a three piece assembly consisting of a base or bottom element, an insert or tray in the base/bottom element for positioning and supporting the disc in the base/bottom element, e.g., by a center projection (commonly referred to as a “rosette”) which engages the periphery of the aperture in the center of the disc, and a lid or cover which is hinged to the base/bottom element and is closed thereon after the disc is mounted therein on the tray. Other enclosures utilize only two pieces, omit the tray, and position and support the disc via the center projection directly on the base/bottom element. The enclosure is, typically, at least partially transparent and graphics relating to the disc and containing trademark and sales promotional information are usually inserted in such a manner as to be visible through the enclosure.
Except for the printed matter inserted therein, the “jewel box” is entirely plastic. For this reason, as well as because the typical jewel box requires three separately injection molded elements which must be manually assembled, the use of this type of enclosure is relatively expensive. Moreover, the use of such an enclosure is believed to be ecologically unacceptable by many because the plastic is non-biodegradable and, in view of the huge volume of such enclosures in use today, the disposal of these enclosures poses either a real or potential environmental problem. One solution to both of these problems has been the development of hybrid packages comprising both paper board and plastic components. These hybrid packages provide a CD package which is suitable and attractive for display, sale and storage of compact discs, yet which is both simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,812—Kosterka discloses a compact disc package formed from a prescored, preprinted unitary blank and at least one injection molded plastic compact disc holder or tray adhesively adhered to one segment of the blank, the blank being adapted to fold along fold lines to position a blank segment over the top of the disc holder to sandwich it, in book style, between the segment to which it is adhered and the overlying segment. The problem with this type of arrangement is that the book frequently opens and provides little protection for the CD content therewithin. In addition, the Kosterka hybrid packaging typically gives the visual appearance of inexpensive packaging, which may not be appropriate or desirable for some of the more expensive visual productions provided on DVD.
In an effort to improve the hybrid packaging and make it more substantial, the compact disc holder, instead of being formed merely as a tray, was formed as an unhinged base and cover which were designed to be separately mounted on facing segments of the blank, on opposite sides of a spine, such that, when the book was closed about the spine, the cover aligned with the base and latched therewith to maintain the disc holder and book closed in order to afford substantial protection to the CD therewithin. Unfortunately, as the book was opened and closed on multiple occasions the cardboard blank stretched and the original alignment between the base and lid became difficult to achieve with consistency, with the result that it became increasingly difficult to reclose and relatch the disc holder.
Still another effort to solve the problems associated with producing a high end hybrid packaging involved vacuforming a unitary, side-by-side storage container base and lid interconnected by a spine and injection molding plastic CD trays designed and dimensioned to be inserted into and adhesively adhered within the vacuformed base and lid in conventional manner. The open vacuformed container housing the injected molded trays is adhesively bonded along its outer surface to a paperboard covering or blank which resembles the covers of a book. When the resulting book is first closed, the vacuformed case breaks along the creases which attach the spine to the base and lid such that, viewing the book in its open orientation, the vacuformed container appears to be three separate pieces separated by paperboard. Unfortunately, the breaks do not always occur neatly, frequently making for an aesthetically unpleasing product. Moreover, the container is impractically expensive to manufacture. First, it is primarily a plastic container, containing a plastic vacuformed skeleton reinforced by injection molded plastic trays adhesively bonded thereto. Second, assembly requires not less than four separate and distinct steps, including vacuforming the container, injection molding the trays, adhesively bonding the trays within the vacuformed base and lid and adhesively bonding the paperboard book-like blank to the exterior surface of the vacuformed container.
It should be apparent, therefore, that efforts to date directed at hybrid packaging suffer from one or more shortcomings which make the resulting CD packaging either unsatisfactory for repetitive use or insufficiently durable to provide long term protection for the CD content of the package. This is because prior art hybrid packaging is, typically, either uneconomical to manufacture and/or unreliable in use and/or does not function to provide adequate protection to the CD content of the container, as by readily re-closing and re-latching. Accordingly, there remains a need for a simple, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to use hybrid CD package which is reliable for use over the long term.